Cortland Bank Shareholders Approve Merger With Farmers

CORTLAND, Ohio — Shareholders of Cortland Bancorp, the holding company of Cortland Savings and Banking Co., on Tuesday approved an agreement to merge with Canfield-based Farmers National Banc Corp., according to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday morning.

A special shareholder’s meeting was held at the Grand Resort in Howland to consider the proposal to merge with Farmers.  

The transaction is expected to close Nov. 1, according to Farmers’ third quarter earnings report, also filed this morning.

“With the closing of the Cortland Bank acquisition in November, we are poised to realize additional economies of scale which should allow us to continue our momentum into 2022,” Farmers President and CEO Kevin J. Helmick said in a statement.

According to the regulatory filing, 2,905,713 of Cortland’s common shares were represented by either proxy or in person. Of that number, 2,782,131 voted for the merger while 119,616 voted against the proposal.  There were 3,967 abstentions.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency approved the merger earlier this month. The vote Tuesday allows The Cortland Savings and Banking Co. to merge with and into Farmers National Bank.

Farmers National Bank and Cortland Bank announced the proposed merger in late June 2021. The combined entity will have about $4.1 billion in assets and 48 locations. All Cortland Bank branches will become Farmers National Bank sites.

At the close of the transaction, Cortland Bank President and CEO James Gasior will join Farmers as senior executive vice president and corporate development officer.

Cortland Bank shareholders can elect to receive either $28 per share in cash or 1.75 shares of Farmers common stock, according to the agreement.

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